Weeks after its Jantar Mantar protest forced the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the government agreeing to the demands, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is moving from the street to the strategy room. The organisation’s core team – founder, spokespersons and organisational leadership – is set to convene for a two-day strategy meet in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra, beginning August 5, to chart the next phase of the youth movement.
Ahead of the meeting, CJP chief Abhijeet Dipke confirmed that all key members, including those who managed the Jantar Mantar protest, would be present. “Our core team members, including our spokespersons and everyone who helped us manage the protest, will be attending. All our core members will be here,” Dipke said. However, he ruled out any immediate move toward electoral politics.
“As of now, we have no plans (to form a political party),” he clarified. The statement is likely to temper speculation about whether the outfit intends to formalise into a political outfit.
VIDEO | Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Maharashtra: On the CJP Core Committee meeting, CJP chief Abhijeet Dipke says, "Our core team members, including our spokespersons and everyone who helped us manage the protest, will be attending. All our core members will be here… As of now,… pic.twitter.com/zGf6wEtvqX
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Dipke also addressed questions around his personal security, offering a pointed comparison between local and central forces. “The Maharashtra Police is much better than the Delhi Police. I do not need any additional security. The security already being provided to me is sufficient,” he said.
Over the past several days, CJP members have been reaching out to a wide range of stakeholders, including the roughly fifty core volunteers who powered the Jantar Mantar agitation, to help shape what comes next, it said in a statement released on Monday.
With no political party in the offing, at least for now, the Sambhajinagar meet is likely to focus on sustaining the movement’s organisational momentum rather than converting street mobilisation into electoral ambition — leaving open the question of what form CJP’s next chapter will take.
The CJP may also decide on its involvement in the students’ protest underway in Jharkhand’s Ranchi. Founder Dipke spoke to the student leaders through video call on Sunday night, however, the CJP has not joined the protest physically yet. “Spoke to the students who are protesting in Jharkhand over irregularities in JPSC and JSSC recruitment exams. The CJP stands with all the students in Jharkhand and supports their demands,” Dipke said in a social media post.
Student leader Devendra Nath Mahto launched the hunger strike at the protest site in Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium around 10 pm on Sunday, demanding proper investigation by CBI and ED into the alleged irregularities in the 14th JPSC examination, JSSC-CGL and other recruitment tests, cancellation of 14th JPSC Combined Preliminary Test and the introduction of a fifth option of “not attempted” in OMR sheets.